(2004)

Sunlight filtered through the classroom's windows, and the curtains rippled gently in the afternoon breeze of mid-May. Wissam worked on his calculus in the otherwise vacant room. Lunchtime took the chaos of his classmates outside. Finals were next month, while interschool football tournament was less than a week away. Unlike most of his teammates, Wissam didn't want to depend on a football scholarship to get into a good university.

Wissam lifted his head up as someone knocked on the door.

"May I come in?" Yamira asked.

Wissam scoffed. "It's your classroom too."

He returned his attention to task at hand but got perturbed again as Yamira slid onto the seat in front of him with her face toward him. Placing her arms on the backrest, she rested her chin on top.

Wissam quirks an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Nothing."

Wissam attempted to focus on the math problem he was in the middle of solving, but someone's intent gaze was becoming disconcerting.

"If you have something to say to me, get it over with."

"I don't."

"Then why're you here?"

"Why can't I be? Like you said, it's my classroom too."

"That's not your seat."

"You're not sitting on yours either."

Wissam was struck silent. He was sitting on his best friend's seat because it was next to the window and the weather was pleasant outside.

"Touché." He began to collect his study materials to move back to his seat. Lunchtime was almost over anyway. "Nevertheless, you're bothering my concentration."

"Why? Do I make you flustered because I'm too pretty?"

Wissam nearly dropped his things.

"Sorry, I lied. I actually do have something to tell you." Yamira says, suddenly solemn. "I need a favor."

"Oh, yeah? I don't think I can fit it into my schedule. Sorry." Wissam replied flatly as he proceeded to his desk.

"You have a sister who goes to Mellow Ridge, right?"

"Why?" Wissam asks, evidently surprised.

"My brother goes there as well. He's quite reticent and doesn't know how to have fun. I was wondering if your sister could befriend him and bring him out of his shell. I saw you two a few times here and there and she seemed pretty lively."

The chime of bell indicated the end of lunchtime.

"What do you say?" Yamira prompted.

The request appeared harmless.

"Send me a picture of your brother." Wissam hesitated a little. "Can I, um, ask for a return favor?"

"Go ahead." Yamira smiles brightly.

"Your Spanish notes..." Wissam said meekly, rubbing his neck.

"Sorry?"

"Can I look at your Spanish notes?" He said, louder this time. "I'm kind of lagging behind. You topped the class on the subject last semester and also aced most of the tests on this semester..."

"Deal." Yamira grinned. "The bleachers. Meet me after school."

Rayman came from behind Wissam and slung an arm over the latter's shoulder. "What were you talking about with the heiress? Wait, don't tell me..."he widened his eyes and said in an accusatory tone, "Senior prom?"

"Studies." Wissam replied.

"You boring punk." Rayman said, and glanced at Yamira. "I wonder if she's going to prom. Should I ask her?"

"I dare you." Wissam said, knowing very well about his best friend's hopeless crush.

---------

_____

Maha

"So Dad," I say, after scarfing the contents of my breakfast bowl, "I've been thinking-"

"Hold on! That is a very dangerous way of initiating a conversation." Pop pours himself a mug of water and places his phone in front of him with the emergency dial on standby. "Okay, go on. What?" He asks as he notes the look on my face. "I need to be careful just in case."

"Alright. So, I've been thinking..." I start tentatively, "if now's the right time to tell Kaif about Wissam."

Pop scrunches up his eyebrows. "Why suddenly?"

"It's not suddenly. I mean, we should tell him some day right? He's old enough. And mature enough-"

"Maha-"

"So he'll understand why we-"

"Maha-"

"Kept it from him. He was little and it was a particularly depressing period in our lives. But now-"

"He doesn't have to know!"

"Why not?"

"Because ignorance is bliss. What's the point of telling him he had a brother who got involved with a girl and has been missing for the past- what- ten years?" Pop takes a gulp from his mug.

"Allegedly. You missed the the world allegedly, and that alone makes a whole world of difference."

"Maha, please don't start-"

"Besides, nobody found anything of significance." I say, quoting my words from my conversation with Yusha last Saturday. "For all we know, he could be a victim himself!"

"Maha-"

"Wissam was a wonderful human being, you know it as well as I do." I interject. "Mere assumptions shouldn't tarnish his image. He doesn't deserve to be buried with the past. Regardless of how the situation looked or what other people say, you as a parent should invariably believe your child until the very last moment. Wissam, to our knowledge, did nothing wrong. So, I am going to tell Kaif about him. Any objections?"

Pop pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "What can I say when you've made up your mind like that? But let me ask you this, did something happen?"

"No?" I answer, sounding like a question. "I mean, no."

"Well, if you say so." He says, seeming unconvinced.

<>

"What's that?" Tan asks, snatching the business card tucked between my fingers. "Someone offered you a job?"

"Uh..." I lean back and tip my chair on its hind legs, "something like that."

It's Thursday noon and we are in our campus coffee shop. The sky is a gloomy grey, and it's been raining on and off since morning.

Tan eyes me skeptically. "What are you not telling me?"

"Well, you've been kinda busy with-"

"Spill."

I do.

By the time I've reached the part where Yusha offers me his business card, Tan's eyes enlarge to the size of saucepans.

"So, in short, this middle school guy friend of yours who you've met after a whole decade is the founder of AIDEN Tech, the AI company. Who is also a celeb? Moreover, he's the son of the man we helped the other day? Not only that, but it turns out it was his sister who disappeared alongside your brother ten years ago and was found dead? And he was the guest speaker at the event last Saturday. Talk about fate, this is nuts."

"Uh-huh."

"He thinks his sister's case was a murder, not a suicide or an accident? And he doesn't trust the police because they may have played a part to cover up the truth. So, he wants your help because he suspects your brother could be somehow linked. What is he, wannabe Sherlock Holmes? And he wants you to be his Dr. Watson?" Tan laughs incredulously. "You sure he isn't playing some elaborate prank?"

Tan looks at my pensive face and asks, "What're you thinking? You aren't considering helping him, are you?"

I sit upright and prop my face up on one palm.

"Mr. Kaify told me a few days ago, when we met up at the Coffee Pot..."

"I caught Wissam and Yamira together a couple of times. In empty classrooms. The bleachers. The roof of our school building. When I would casually ask about his whereabouts, he'd reply vaguely. Getting some fresh air. Running an errand for someone..."

"I asked him whether he told all these to the police when they interviewed him after Wissam went missing."

"I told them I saw the two talk occasionally and that it was probably study-related as Wissam only spoke to girls out of necessity. I didn't want to lay bare my doubts and later create a misunderstanding between us that will harm our friendship."

"What kind of doubts?" Tan asks.

"That there was something going on between Wissam and Yamira."

"You mean like, in the romantic sense? So, he didn't tell the police about their secret rendezvouses?"

I nod. "That's what he seemed to imply. On the contrary, Mr. Kaify also believed that Yamira wasn't the kind of girl Wissam would like."

"Why? What kind of girl was she?"

"Someone who excels in multilingual profanity."

Tan pushes the fingers of her hands into a steeple and raises an eyebrow.

"When a woman is murdered, it's common human instinct to suspect her lover or boyfriend or husband." Tan says, sounding rather philosophical. "So, if Mr. Kaify had voiced his doubts it would've looked bad for your brother."

I nod. "But you see the paradox here? Why keep the details from the police? He was suspicious of Wissam after all." I snort. "Oof, this is gonna keep me awake all night. You know what? I think I'm just going to meet Yusha briefly and hear what he has to say. I've got something of his I've got to return anyway."

<>

I bite the insides of my mouth as I call the number on the card. It's the fourth time I've picked up my phone, and the first time I've actually let the call ring for more than three seconds. Eternity seems to pass by until it's answered.

Yusha

My phone buzzes in front of me and its screen flashes with a number I've saved as MIA. I have been anticipating this call ever since last Saturday. It's finally here.

"Excuse me, gentlemen."

As the glass doors part and I exit the conference room, I breathe in and out once, clear my throat and answer.

"Hello?"

No response.

"Hello? Who is this?" I try again.

"Hello." Maha eventually says. "Is this Mr. Zaber's number?"

My voice should give away the answer to that.

"Yes. Who am I speaking to?" I ask, feigning equal cluelessness.

"It's Maha." Pause. "I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time."

"Not at all. To what do I owe this call?"

"I, uh, still have your coat from the other day. Do you, er, want to meet? Or should I drop it off... somewhere?"

I bite back a smile. Is she nervous?

"No. Let's meet. When and where will work best for you?"

"I'm actually not too busy right now."

"Me neither." Just in the middle of a meeting.

"Cool. Does Gregorys sound good? It's that new coffee shop on forty-fourth street."

"Perfect."

The call ends abruptly and I stare at my phone's screen.

Wow. So clinical. Not even so much of a see you there.

About two minutes later my phone beeps with a text.

Sorry. My phone died.

See you in a bit.

Despite myself, I smile.

I readjust my expression before striding back into the meeting room.

"Sorry, gentlemen. Something came up so I need to leave. We shall continue the rest some other time."

I insert the location of Gregorys Coffee in my Porsche's GPS and navigate out of the office's copious garage.

I scan the room and spot a hijabi sitting at a table next to a wall, her head leaning against it.

"The seat's taken!" Maha exclaims as I start to drag out the chair across from her.

"It's me." I say, doffing my mask from my face and plopping down.

"Oh. Do you have allergy? You were wearing a mask that time at the convenience store too..." She puckers her face as though she regrets bringing up that incident.

"No. My bare face actually tends to cause a bit of an inconvenience out in the public."

"Ah. I see. Oh, right!" Maha places a bag on the table and pushes it towards me.

I peek inside and find my coat folded within.

"I didn't bother washing or ironing it in case I accidentally damage the material."

I grin. "Sounds like that happens a lot."

"No, it doesn't!" She protests immediately.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Yeah, whatevs." She starts to get up from her seat. "I'll get going."

"Wait! You came all the way here just to return my coat?"

"You were the one who wanted to meet." She points out.

"Oh, yeah, well..." I rub my neck, "I was... nearby. So, you don't have anything to say to me?"

"To you? Like what?" She asks, sitting back down. "Oh wait, you mean about what you were talking about at the event?"

"Did you think about it?" I ask, a little hope tinging my tone.

"Well, I did a little bit, to be honest." She says, "It was a bad joke. I wouldn't even grade it five out of ten."

"I wasn't joking." I say, somberly. "You may not understand, but I need to do this. I get it it's hard for you to think about your brother-"

"Yes, it is. I spent the better part of the last ten years trying to overcome the pain of losing him so unexpectedly. I would've understood if new evidence has been found and the investigators are reopening the case. But that's not it. We aren't shooting a crime film where the main lead and his friends single-handedly solve an ancient mystery. You're too old to be playing detective. I won't stop you from fantasizing, but don't get carried away by it." Maha sighs exhaustedly. "I've gotta go. It was nice to see you again."

"You think I'm bluffing about investigating the case without some sort of evidence?"

Maha stops in her tracks.

"If you have evidence, then follow the damn procedure. Show them to the police instead of trying to act cool."

"I told you, I don't trust them."

"But you trust me?" She sneers.

I shrug nonchalantly. "I'm a good judge of character."

"Right." She drawls dryly.

"Besides, he was your brother. Who else can I go to who was close to him like you were?"

Maha narrows her. "How do you know we used to be very close?"

Oh, sh*t.

"Ah, well... you told me!"

"I did?"

"Back in middle school! Yeah!"

Then she resumes her seat and crosses her arms. "Fine. Let's hear what you've got."

"I think you should see it rather than hear it."

Maha frowns and I smirk.